Tourists Looking for Pot Get Robbed

Sometimes even the simplest drug deal can go awry, as some tourists from Florida discovered early one morning on Niagara Street last week.

It was around 1 a.m. when the Sunshine Staters ducked into the 7-11 at 402 Niagara Street, still a bad part of town despite the promises of a series of government officials that spinoff from the Seneca Niagara Casino would turn it into a thriving tourism Mecca.

All they wanted was a Slurpee, they told cops.

Upon exiting the store they were approached by a "dark skinned black male" who asked them if they would like some powdered cocaine or crack. They told the helpful dope dealer they weren’t into hard drugs but, if he knew where he could get some marijuana, they might be up for some of that.

He walked them around the hood, stopping at various houses, but no marijuana was forthcoming. Finally, the frustrated dope dealer simply pulled a knife on the tourists.

"Gimme all you got," he demanded.

They gave him $80 cash, a red hoodie valued at $120 and a wallet containing credit cards vested with a $15,000 credit limit. He then ran off into the night.

Police officers looked for the suspect until dawn but were unable to locate him. No one in the neighborhood would admit to knowing him, not even the people at the houses he took the tourists to. Cops think they know who the guy is, but when they asked the hapless victims whether they would be willing to return to Niagara Falls to prosecute the case, they said no.